Visitors flock to see vision of Virgin Mary in Kilkenny hills near golf course

Can you see it? The view of the outline of the Madonna with child on the face of the mountain near Carrigleade Golf Course on the Graignamanagh.Kilkenny People / Pat Moore

People are flocking to a golf course in Co Kilkenny, Ireland after a vision of the Virgin Mary cradling an infant has appeared on the side of a nearby mountain.

The image, which many believe to be the Virgin Mary cradling a child, was spotted only recently on the Blackstairs Mountains, which rise high above the Carrigleade golf course in Kilkenny.

Bridie Galavan, who runs the Carrigleade golf course with her husband Dan, told the Kilkenny People that, “A couple of gentlemen playing golf pointed it out, and we instantly we saw what they were talking about.

“Then another golfer here yesterday looked up at it and said he just couldn’t believe it. It looks like Our Lady, and she’s holding another figure, a head, and the way he sits it looks like a child.”

Strangely enough, the massive formation on the side of the mountain was never noticed by anyone until this week, leading many to believe it may have formed overnight.

“We have never noticed it until now,” Bridie said, who has since travelled up the mountain with her mother and sister to see the sight. “And we’d have always been here. It’s very strange.”

Ireland is home to many other special religious apparitions. In 2011, the face of Jesus appeared in a photograph of the world famous Cliffs of Moher in Co Clare. Other spots around the country have also had their fair share of visits from Christ or the Mother Mary.